Sources: Cordaro investigation still ongoing

Complete archive of past articles on the Cordaro and Munchak corruption case.

A federal grand jury in Scranton is investigating possible witness tampering at last summer's trial of former Lackawanna County Commissioners Robert C. Cordaro and A.J. Munchak, two sources familiar with the case said Wednesday.

The grand jury briefly heard testimony from one witness Tuesday afternoon to determine if there had been any attempts to convince Charles A. "Chuckie" Costanzo, Mr. Cordaro's boyhood friend from Dunmore, not to testify against Mr. Cordaro at his June trial, one of the sources said.

FBI and IRS agents spent years building a case against Mr. Cordaro, culminating in a set of indictments that claimed he and former fellow majority county Commissioner A.J. Munchak accepted kickbacks from businesses seeking county contracts.

The new inquiry, which the source said is aimed at Mr. Cordaro, not Mr. Munchak, surfaced just three weeks before the former commissioners are scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 30. Following a 12-day trial, a federal jury found Mr. Cordaro guilty June 21 on 18 of 33 charges, including bribery, extortion, money laundering, racketeering and several counts of conspiracy. He faces up to 229 years in jail and $4.5 million in fines. Mr. Munchak was found guilty on eight of 21 counts. He faces up to 93 years in jail and $2 million in fines.

In anticipation of Mr. Costanzo's testimony last summer, prosecutors had him transported to Scranton from his federal prison cell, where he is serving five years and 10 months for stealing $650,000 from a county job he was appointed to by Mr. Cordaro.

But in a closed-door meeting with the judge in the middle of the trial, Mr. Costanzo announced he would refuse to testify if called to the stand, even though he had been offered a chance at a reduced prison sentence if he did.

The case against Mr. Costanzo involved the county workers' compensation fund.

One of the numerous schemes prosecutors said Mr. Cordaro ran involved an $8,000 a month no-bid contract to clean the county courthouse. Prosecutors had planned to present testimony from Mr. Costanzo about, among other things, money that Marion Maintenance, the cleaning company that got the courthouse contract, had paid to win it.

Marion Maintenance had been listed in the indictment as "Company #4," which paid $1,000 in 2006 to an unidentified person to give to Mr. Cordaro "in the hopes of getting a county contract valued in excess of $5,000." Marion later received the courthouse contract. The $1,000 was paid by Dan Marion to Mr. Costanzo, who told Mr. Marion "it was a donation" to Mr. Cordaro's campaign, according to sources familiar with the case.

Two members of the prosecution's team in the Cordaro/Munchak case - FBI Special Agent April Phillips and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Brandler - were seen leaving the grand jury room after the witness testified Tuesday afternoon. That panel is one of two grand juries sitting in Scranton, where prosecutors are working on several high-profile cases.

Peter J. Smith, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, declined to comment, a spokeswoman said. Peter Goldberger, the new lawyer representing Mr. Cordaro, did not return a call seeking comment.

Mr. Cordaro - a lawyer who according to sources recently began bartending on Tuesday nights at Gubbio's, an Italian restaurant in Dunmore - and Mr. Munchak could have escaped the stiff sentences they are facing.

The two former commissioners, who snapped a 20-year Democratic grip on county government, had been offered plea agreements. The deal for Mr. Munchak could have seen him spend as little as 36 months in prison while Mr. Cordaro's would have been just five years.

Contact the writer: jmcdonald@timesshamrock.com

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